Re: Sources for Hero quests

From: Simon Phipp <soltakss_at_72sGGhkOKKudQQl9A1jS5kq75TZIUlnrrtBkMjcYz6Pvz8ohR5wCXNwtOG6vV_1jmX9>
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:26:05 -0000

Zachary Kline:

> As I prep for my Glorantha campaign I'm wondering what sources
> I can draw upon for heroquests?

In my opinion, HeroQuests are Myths in Action. You take a Myth, lay it on the world and perform it in order to achieve a required result. The more powerful the myth or the deeper it is laid on the world the stronger the result.

So, the most important thing for HeroQuests are the Myths. Any of the old Gloranthan supplements are chockablock with myths, most of which are now on the Issaries website.

> They seem rather an abstract concept, at least as described in the
> Sartar book.

Yes, they are portrayed that way.

In my opinion, that is the wrong approach to take.

HeroQuests are strange as they allow the participants to interact with the gods and to take on the role of gods. Basically, they are prayer-rituals that work. I would say that many people perform HeroQuests during their daily lives, far more than is hinted at in the published sources.

The world-changing/myth-making HeroQuests are specialised ones that only happen a few times in an Age. Stealing a wife from another clan or getting a magical sword, they are the HeroQuests that are often done.

> I've played the game King of Dragon Pass extensively, and know of
> the quests in there. How do people tend to handle this? I could
> invent myths, of course, but I was wondering if there were any
> other sources people recommend. Is the Book of Heortling Mythology
> worth a purchase?

Any book on Gloranthan Mythology is worth buying, as far as I am concerned.

There is a Stafford Compendium book that is about HeroQuesting, although I can't think of the title (someone will chip in, I am sure) - that is good, but a bit heavy in places and has a lot of ideas that fell by the wayside and are no longer in vogue.

> I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around the concept of HQs.
> I don't foresee running one for a while, but my players are
> interested in doing so eventually, and I need to stay ahead of them.

First of all, don't think of HeroQuests as something special and magical and rare that are really hard to do. They are not.

HeroQuests are concrete things that people do to get a result that they could normally not achieve. They are a means to an end. Sure, they are prayers and reinforce the mythology, but so what? I have never bothered personally with the mythical/mystical nature of HeroQuests - as far as I am concerned, they have that place in Glorantha and that is one of the many areas of roleplaying in Glorantha that I gloss over in play.

So, you want to run a HeroQuest. You need to ask a few questions and decide on what to do.

Question 1: Why do you want to do the HeroQuest?

Seriously. Is it because HeroQuests are cool? It is because the PCs need to do something that couldn't normally be done? Do they want a magical item or have a foe that they need to kill? Do they need to get somewhere 200 miles away in a single day?

Question 2: What do you want to achieve?

The players will want to achieve something, but that is only half the Quest. What do you as a GM want from the HeroQuest? Do you want to introduce a new ally or an enemy or embroil the PCs in something they weren't previously involved with? All these can be done through HeroQuesting.

Question 3: Who do the PCs worship?

This is important as most HeroQuests rely on pre-existing Myths as the template for the Quest and Orlanth will have different Myths to Yelm, for example.

Question 4: How do I go about making a HeroQuest?

1. Find a suitable Myth.
2. Break the Myth down into logical and obvious sections, or Stations.
3. Decide which Gods/Goddesses are encountered in each Station and also what rewards, if any, the HeroQuestors can gain by taking part in each Station.
4. Decide what rewards should be gained for completing the HeroQuest and what penalties, of any, should be incurred for failing.

Question 5: How do I run a HeroQuest?

1. Treat is as any other adventure, but add an extra magical element to it.
2. Use familiar people (other NPCs, enemies and allies) in the roles of the other Gods and Goddesses of the HeroQuest.
3. Add some extra Stations, miss some Stations out completely or mess about with what happens in the Stations - make them unpredictable.
4. Do not run the HeroQuest strictly as Stations, try and let them merge naturally into one another so the players don't know when a Station begins and ends. Obviously, you might want some Stations to seem separate or individual with strict beginnings, ends and rewards.
5. Do not run them as rigid, formal affairs. They should be fun, be magical and be dangerous in places.
6. Every action on a HeroQuest has the potential to have an effect on the world. Make the actions count and use them to introduce plotlines that happen as a result of the HeroQuest.

I hope that helps a little.

Have a look at http://www.soltakss.com/index.html for some ideas about HeroQuests and some sample HeroQuests.

See Ya

Simon